


Midnight Admission

by sciencebutch



Series: Tumblr Prompts [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M, at this point idk if it even needs to be said but, bruce! is! autistic!, i posted this on my tumblr but eh, might as well dump it here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 14:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15642894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencebutch/pseuds/sciencebutch
Summary: Bruce tells Thor.





	Midnight Admission

**Author's Note:**

> thanks anon for the idea, whoever you are. i lov u.

They were having one of their biweekly occurrence where Thor would tie blankets to chairs and Bruce would throw pillows and snacks underneath. They both felt safe there, isolated from everything but each other, in a home that might as well be made of paper. What material their stronghold was constructed with didn’t matter though. It was the principle of the thing. 

Bruce had been rather quiet the whole night, worrying his lip in the way that Thor had learned early on meant “I have something to say but saying it takes a lot of energy and courage so whether I say it or not depends entirely on the circumstance.” Thor likes to think he knows his boyfriend pretty well if his ability to read Bruce’s expressions was anything to go by. 

He knew that speaking was hard for Bruce sometimes. So he took up both parts of the conversation, not letting it get quiet. He talked until Bruce was ready to say something. Sometimes he never was, and that was okay.

Thor was just finishing the story of the time when he and Loki had played hide and seek when they were kids, and it had taken a year and a half to find him when Bruce piped up, “Can I tell you something?”

Thor smiled, “Anything.”

It took Bruce five minutes to finally speak, during which Thor sat attentively. Bruce’s mouth shaped around empty air, small exhales void of sound, as if he was rehearsing what he was going to say. 

“I…” Bruce began, “I…have autism,” his voice went quiet at the end, more of a whisper than anything else. Thor heard it as clear as day.

“Is it serious?!” he asked, voice filled with worry. From the various soap operas and the occasional  _Gray’s Anatomy_ episode he had seen, an admission like this meant the character was going to die, or at least get really, really sick.

Bruce flinched, and his face, which had been open and vulnerable, closed off. His eyes had gone vacant. “What do you mean?” he said. His voice was flat and expressionless. Did Thor say something wrong?

“Are you going to die?” His concern was rising by the second.

Bruce’s eyebrows creased, a sign of confusion. ‘No…” then something dawned on him as he asked, “Thor, do you know what autism is?” 

“Not particularly, no,” he responded.

Emotion began to crawl into Bruce’s expression again as he huffed.

“Sometimes I forget you’re an alien,” he said, before continuing, “Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex developmental disorder that affects people’s abilities to communicate and interact with other people,” he sounded as if he was recalling an anecdote from something he had read. “It affects everyone in different ways…” his voice lowered, “Just thought you should know.”

Thor could tell this topic was a sensitive one, so he handled it as such. “Thank you for telling me.”

Bruce’s hand reached out and grabbed his. He began tracing the creases in his palm. He did that a lot when they were together; it was nice. Calming.

“It’s just…it doesn’t have a very positive connotation today…people think we’re,” he hesitated, “freaks. Or should be cured. Or something. I didn’t know if you would share those sentiments or not,” he didn’t make eye contact during any of this admission, fixating on Thor’s hand, rather.

‘Why would I think that?” Thor said. Bruce began to retreat into himself; the fingernail on his palm sped up.

“’M sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for assuming that about you.” his tone was placating. Thor had noticed that his boyfriend tended to stay away from any type of confrontation–even one’s as petty and unimportant than this one.

“Bruce, honey, it’s alright,” he scooted closer to Bruce, who didn’t seem to notice; too concentrated on his palm, “I would never think anything bad about you. Never. Not because of the Hulk, or because of that time you spilled liquid nitrogen on me in the lab, or because you have autism,” he hesitated on the last word; it was new and unfamiliar in his mouth.

A smile graced Bruce’s lips, it was gorgeous and took Thor’s breath away. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

“Can I hug you?” Thor asks.

Bruce nods.

And so they did.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr!


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